There are times when a whole community mourns. Such is the case this week in Warroad and Roosevelt with the death of 18 year old Clint Quibodeaux.  Clint died when his pickup was struck by a train Friday evening, January 2nd, in Roosevelt.

                At the family service held on Tuesday evening, his family and friends remembered Clint as a fun loving guy and a good friend. Laughter and tears were abundant as they reminisced about Clint after his mother, Denise Grussing, told of the evening they had spent with Clint and the subsequent crash that took his life.

                I attended the visitation and service since I have met Denise through some of the events I’ve covered. I’ve worked with her husband and Clint’s step-dad Jon Michael of KQ-92.  John Quibodeaux, Clint’s dad,  is one of Bill Marvin’s caretakers so I’ve talked to him on occasion.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of Clint’s family and close friends at this time of loss. 

                On to other things. Management and I got a taste of what hockey parents go through recently. Roseau Hockey hosted a B-Bantam tournament this last weekend and a team from my home town of Grand Rapids participated. My cousin Marvin’s son was goalie on the team so we made plans to attend some of the games.  We had a matter of a broken furnace in Hill City to attend to on Friday, drove down to take care of that, then drove back Saturday through the storm to make a 5:00 game in Roseau. On Highway 72 north of Kelliher, only one lane was plowed so the AWD  Aerostar got quite a workout.  The east wind was drifting the north bound lane shut in some areas.

                We arrived in Roseau in time for the game. It was interesting because Grand Rapids was playing Roseau and my daughters, Roseau students, have no particular affection for my home town’s team. My cousin keeps stats for the team so he was filling me in on some of the finer points of the game and players. After Grand Rapids won the game 5-2, daughter Katelyn was incensed by what she considered the rough, unfair play of the Grand Rapids team. Dad had to tell her that it was only a game, regardless of the score, there is nothing to remain  angry about. 

                After the Bantam game, I took the family home. Then Alyssa and I went to Warroad to watch the Roseau versus Warroad Girl’s Hockey game. We again met my cousin there since his niece, Shelby Amsley-Benzie, plays goalie for Warroad. The storm must have kept people away because there were many empty seats. I thought both teams played well and Marvin, a goalie in High School, liked what he saw in the Roseau goalie. The rematch between Roseau and Warroad should be another good game. 

                The next morning, we trekked into Roseau to watch the B-Bantam Championship game between White Bear Lake and Grand Rapids. White Bear, which had three easy games in the tournament coming into this one, running one score to 18-1, ran into a buzz saw. Rapids dominated, again winning 5-2. Cousin Marvin was ecstatic as his son played very well and was the team captain to receive the trophy.

                Another week in the Great North, see you next week!